We will hear from three scholars addressing different dimensions of mass incarceration, especially the intersections between carceral expansion, rural life, and the experiences of diverse actors in this complex social and institutional landscape.

We will be serving light lunch fare.

Panelists:
Judah Schept is an Associate Professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. He holds a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Indiana University and a BA in Sociology from Vassar College. Judah’s work examines the political economy, historical geography, and cultural politics of the prison industrial complex. He is the author of Progressive Punishment: Job Loss, Jail Growth, and the Neoliberal Logic of Carceral Expansion (New York University Press, 2015).

Lee Bullock is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky. He recently completed 12 months of National Science Foundation funded ethnographic fieldwork in northeastern Louisiana. His research examines mass incarceration and the ways in which prison and jail privatization in the US south impact livelihood strategies and community development over time.

Amanda M. Bunting is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, in the field of criminology and substance use, at the University of Kentucky. She is a National Institute on Drug Abuse predoctoral trainee in the University of Kentucky Department of Behavioral Science and Center for Translational Research. Her research examines barriers to securing employment, accessing health care, and receiving appropriate substance use treatment among justice-involved populations.